Astros exec's wonky job title goes more mainstream — sort of

The former NASA and Lockheed Martin employee who came aboard as the Astros' "director of decision sciences" has a new job title, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Sig Mejdal, who moved over from the Cardinals shortly after Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow was hired in 2011, is now "special assistant to the GM, process improvement."

Better?

OK, so maybe most people still don't know what the heck that means he does.

The role, as Mejdal explained to the Chronicle by email, is more related to the application of the findings from analytics. Every team has an analyst or analysts, but it’s how the findings are used that makes the difference, Mejdal says. In his new role, he will work with the Astros analytics staff, helping it figure out how to use what it has found.

Back in 2012, Luhnow described Mejdal's role to the Chronicle as "someone to oversee the architecture and ongoing operation of all the systems that we’re going to utilize to make better baseball decisions."

Clear?

So, the new title ahead of the 2016 season — while still unique to the Astros among MLB teams — reflects a tailored focus, according to the Chronicle.

Mejdal joins former Astro players Craig Biggio, Enos Cabell and Roger Clemens with the special assistant label. Others in the front office carry director in their titles.